Swivel chair iron



March 3, 1959 I M. FOX 2,876,051

SWIVEL CHAIR IRON Filed June 1, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 March 3, 1959 M.FOX

SWIVEL CHAIR IRON 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 1, 1954 inventio n relates to a swivel. chair iron for swivelof the'pi'esent invention-is toprovide a chair iron which" rriay be"economicallyfabricated from sheetmetal to provide a pair of opposed plates which form an annular ballbearing race, and which are held together by simple keepers to preventseparation of the plates, the keepers having non-metallic bearingsurfaces.

A further object of the invention is to provide a keeper constructionwhich includes a nylon bearing supported by a rigid metal backing piece.

The invention is illustrated in a preferred and an alternativeembodiment in the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. l is a side elevational view of an upholstered swivel chair of atype to which the invention may be applied;

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the chair base and chair bottomconnected by the preferred form of swivel,

chair iron;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the preferred form of chair iron with partsbroken away to more clearly show the construction;

Fig. 4 is a section taken as indicated along the line 4-4 of Fig. 3; and

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of an antifriction hearing.

In the embodiment illustrated, the preferred form of swivel chair iron,indicated generally at in Fig. 2, is interposed between a conventionalchair base 11 and a chair bottom 12 which is surmounted by anupholstered chair 13.

The chair iron comprises a lower plate 14 which is screwed to the chairbase 11 and a coacting generally similar upper plate 15 which is screwedto the chair bottom 12. As best seen in Fig. 3, the plates 14 and 15 arestamped out of sheet metal in the form of annuli, and have complementaryannular grooves 16 and 17, respectively, which cooperate to form a ballrace for a plurality of ball bearings 18. The lower plate 14 has screwholes 19 which are positioned beneath recesses 20 in the upper plate 15,while the upper plate 15 has bosses 21 to receive attaching screws whichare opposite recesses 22 in the lower plate so that the screws forattaching the respective plates to the chair elements may be readilyinstalled. The ball bearings 18 are held in spaced relationship in theball race by means of over lapping perforated link bars 23 which havemating apertures in their end portions so that a pair of adjacent linkbars may be held in assembled relationship by the ball bearings 18 whichare positioned in the apertures.

The keeper means of the preferred form of the invention consists of aplurality of spaced upwardly and outwardly extending ears 24 which areformed integrally with the lower plate 14 and extend peripherally beyondthe matching margins of both plates to receive bearing means, indicatedgenerally at 25. As best seen in Fig. 4, the bearing means includes apin or stud 26 which ex- 2,876,051 ggtented Mar. 3, 1959 ecr e a. 'a 8mike m P1l 12mi s "fir y e ured. w th. marginal; f pot lqn'fi ver ppiatma s n rti '5 j' l e. i rmealis f n enlarged top head 30 onjthe pines;

Asj'sjeendnFig. 5, the nylonbearing 28 takes the form ofalarge, fi'lwasherjandfthe backing in p29 isfallso a Y agrari n, thereisonlyasmallclearance between e top faceof the; ppe'r; plate 15 and' the e appbe r g T urf ee f he yl n: earin 1 Th use or a nylon bearing in thekeeper permits'a' very o e fit between e 1 r e i n v t ef i p P 9 5.Withou y 'undeslrabl i' e ch a wou d aused. bri tl us of a simple metalflange overlying; the'top "plate. Likewise no lubrication isnece'ssaryat the margin of the top plate 15 because of the use of anylon hearing.

The spacers 23 do not extend entirely around the ball race formed by thegrooves 16 and 17, there being no spacer between the ball bearingsidentified as 18a and 18b in Fig. 3. This is possible because thepositions of the bearings 18a and 18b are fixed by the spacers which.extend around the balance of the ball race.

The foregoing detailed description is given for clearness ofunderstanding only and no unnecessary limitations are to be understoodtherefrom, as some modifications will be obvious to those skilled in theart.

I claim:

1. In a swivel chair iron: upper and lower opposed plates provided withcomplementary grooves forming a ball race; a plurality of spaced ballsin said race; a plurality of integral circumferentially spaced, radiallyextending mounting ears on the outer margin of one of said plates andextending peripherally beyond the opposed portions of said plates; aplurality of flat, disc-like hearing members, there being a bearingmember abutting each of said ears with a planar bearing surface portionloosely overlapping the outer margin of the other of said plates, saidbearing members being of non-metallic material which is strong incompression but relatively weak to torsional strains; a separate rigidmetal backing piece abutting each of said bearing members and backing upsaid bearing surface portions; and means firmly securing each bearingmember and associated backing piece to a mounting ear.

2. In a swival chair iron: upper and lower opposed plates provided withcomplementary grooves forming a ball race, one of said plates having anuninterrupted fiat, circular marginal portion and the other plate havinga plurality of integral, circumferentially spaced, radially extendingmounting ears with plane surfaces in a plane parallel to and immediatelyadjacent said marginal por tion; a plurality of spaced balls in saidrace; a plurality of flat, disc-like bearing members, there being abearing member abutting the plane surface of each of said mounting ears,each of said members having a planar bearing surface portion extendingradially from the ear and loosely overlapping said marginal portion,said bearing members being of a non-metallic material which is strong incompression but weak to torsional strains; a separate rigidmetal backingpiece abutting each of said bearing members and backing up said bearingsurface portions; and means firmly securing each bearing member andassociated backing piece to a mounting ear.

3. In a swivel chair iron: upper and lower opposed annular platesprovided with complementary grooves forming a ball race; a plurality ofspaced balls in said race; a plurality of circumferentially spacedmounting ears integral with a margin of one of said plates and extendingradially with respect to said margin and the a corresponding margin ofthe other of said plates; 21 plurality of flat, disc-like bea'r'ingmembers, there being a bearingsmemberzabutting each of said ears with aplanar bearing surface. portion loosely overlapping said correspondingmargin of said other of said plates, said bearing members being ofnon-metallic material which is strong in compression but relatively weakto torsional strains; a separate rigid metal backing piece abutting eachof said bearing members and backing up'said bearing surface portions;and means firmly' securing each bearing member and associated backingpiece to amounting ear.

,4. ,In a swivel chair iron: upper and, lower opposed annular, platesprovided with complementary grooves forming-a ball race; a plurality ofspaced balls in said race; a plurality of circumferentially spacedintegral mounting ears on a margin of one of said plates and extendingradially with respect to said margin and the corresponding marginof'theother of said plates; a plurality of fiat bearing washer members,there being a bearingwasher member abutting each of said ears with aplanar bearing surface portion loosely overlapping said correspondingmargin of said other of said plates, said bearing washer members beingof non-metallic material which is strong in compression but relativelyweak to torsional strains; a separate rigid metal washer member abuttingeach of said bearing washer members and backing up said bearing surfaceportions; and a separate two flanged stud impaling each of said ears andthe associated washer members to secure both said members to the ear.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS846,948 Richter Mar. 12, 1907 1,334,958 McEwen Mar. 30, 1920 1,801,204Leuzinger Apr. 14, 1931 2,528,950 Engstrom' Nov. 7, 1950 2,566,421Lapointe .Sept. ,4, 1951 2,644,199 Miller July 7, 1953 2,648,579 Slyteret a1. Aug. 11, 1953 2,671,631 Fox Mar. 9, 1954

